I don't suppose that many of us are aware that satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer was born way back in 1928, April 9th to be exact. I'd assumed that he was ten years older than myself, given that he was composing and recording such great songs in the late 1950's. But he's much older than that.

I also know that he taught mathematics at Harvard and Santa Barbara for years, and that he's gay but not a whole lot more. I do wonder if he actually is a time traveler, given the insights that are implicit in his songs. But most likely he is simply brilliant, able to leap tall paradigms (where did the "y" vanish in this word?) at a single bound.

We should figure out how to thank him for his songs, and for saving the universe.

Charley Noble